Anglo American has released its September 2023 quarter production report, detailing a 42 per cent increase in copper production.
The major miner credited this significant milestone to the production increase at the Quellaveco copper mine in Peru. However, production from the company’s Chile copper operations decreased by four per cent.
Anglo’s platinum group metals (PGMs) production decreased by two per cent, resulting from its PGMs operations being broadly flat despite planned mining in a lower grade area at the Mogalakwena mine in South Africa.
Iron ore production decreased by four per cent, which was driven by planned plant maintenance at the Minas-Rio mine in Brazil.
Nickel production also reduced by seven per cent and steelmaking coal production decreased by 21 per cent, which was caused by factors such as challenging strata conditions at the Moranbah mine in Queensland.
Anglo American chief executive officer Duncan Wanblad said the company’s third quarter production results were overall consistent with the same period in 2022.
“Our focus is on delivering our full year production guidance in line with a planned stronger second half of the year,” he said.
“Our production volumes increased by four per cent quarter-on-quarter, reflecting a step-up from our steelmaking coal operations driven by Aquila and at Grosvenor following the second quarter longwall move, operational improvements in the PGMs business and a progressive increase in volumes from Quellaveco.
“This was partially offset by planned maintenance programs at some operations and a planned reduction from Venetia (in South Africa), which continues to transition to underground operations.
“Copper production from Chile decreased due to ongoing ore hardness and an electrical substation fire at Los Bronces, resulting in a minor revision to guidance for our Chile operations. We are on track to deliver our full year guidance across all other products.”
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